PROTECTION CONVERGENCE

Purpose: Oxidative stress and chronic inflammation have recently been recognized as major underlying mechanisms of various chronic diseases, leading to growing interest in antioxidant materials capable of modulating these processes. Although hydrogen and silica have individually been reported to exhibit antioxidant and physio-logical effects, human studies investigating Hydrogen-ionized Silica, a combined aqueous formulation of these substances, remain limited. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effects of Hydrogen-ionized Silica intake on physiological blood biomarkers in adults and to explore potential metabolic and physiological responses, including differences according to country. Method: This study employed a single-group pre–post intervention design involving adults from South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand. A total of 32 participants consumed Hydrogen-ionized Silica for 6 weeks. Pre- and post-intervention blood test results were analyzed to assess hematological parameters, immune and inflammatory markers, liver and renal function markers, and metabolic and lipid-related indicators. Data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, Mann–Whitney U test, and Kruskal–Wallis test following normality testing. Results: The findings indicated that most blood biomarkers did not show significant pre–post changes following Hydrogen-ionized Silica intake. However, significant changes were observed in fasting glucose and eosinophil levels. In addition, analyses according to sex, age, and country demonstrated no significant differences for most variables. Conclusion: Hydrogen-ionized Silica intake appeared to demonstrate limited changes in specific metabolic and immune-related biomarkers rather than broad effects across overall blood biochemical parameters. These findings provide exploratory baseline evidence regarding the physiological effects of Hydrogen-ionized Silica and may serve as preliminary data for future systematic investigations.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to present policy measures for establishing a "future-oriented national intelligence community" that can effectively respond to rapidly evolving new security threats by overcoming the limitations of the current NIS-centered intelligence system. To this end, the study analyzes cases of intelligence reform in major advanced nations and critically examines the deep-seated bureaucratic rivalries and factors hindering intelligence sharing among South Korean intelligence agencies. Moving beyond political logic, this re-search focuses on the core value of national security to derive fundamental institutional reform plans, including the evolutionary restructuring of the NIS. Ultimately, it seeks to propose a mid-to-long-term development model for a Korean-style intelligence community that can safeguard national interests and public safety through a systematic mechanism for organic cooperation. Method: Due to the inherent secrecy and closed nature of intelligence agencies, which limit empirical surveys, this study employs a "reflexive literature review" focusing on previous research and policy documents. Leveraging the researcher’s 30 years of practitioner experience, the study uses the gap between field reality and theory as an analytical starting point, cross-validating these insights with literature and normative standards. Methodological-ly, rather than analyzing correlations between variables, it adopts a normative approach combined with case studies to diagnose the limitations of the current system. By conducting a comparative analysis of intelligence community models in major advanced nations—such as the U.S., the U.K., and Japan—this research derives implications tailored to the South Korean context. Ultimately, these multifaceted analyses are synthesized to propose practical and strategic policy measures for establishing a future-oriented Korean intelligence community. Results: This research argues that the establishment of a "National Intelligence Office" (tentative name) by separating the NIS’s planning and coordination functions, alongside the creation of a highly capable, advanced intelligence community is critical to overcome South Korea’s structural intelligence limitations. To achieve this, a phased roadmap was established; Phase 1 involves a "Preparatory Task Force" led by the NIS to lay the legal and technical foundations, while Phase 2 features a "Promotion Task Force" led by the National Security Office to finalize government-wide integrated governance. Conclusion: This study concludes that Establishing a future-oriented Korean intelligence community requires a long-term roadmap and unified leadership from the legislative and executive branches to ensure consistent re-form regardless of government changes. A national commission should be formed for a rigorous diagnosis, focusing on strengthening the National Security Office’s coordination and fostering a trust-based community culture. To secure democratic legitimacy, a multifaceted oversight system and strategic public communication must be established. Lastly, improving the declassification system and fostering academia-practitioner collaboration are essential to create a research ecosystem that ensures the continuous evolution of national intelligence capabilities.

Purpose: This study aims to examine the effects of social comparison orientation on job stress and turnover intention among beauty workers, and to verify the mediating effect of job stress. In particular, this study focuses on psychological protection and emotional labor issues experienced by beauty workers in highly competitive organizational environments. As the beauty industry is characterized by emotional labor, customer interaction, and performance-based evaluation, workers are frequently exposed to psychological pressure and stress. Therefore, this study seeks to provide foundational data for establishing psychologically safe and sustainable work environments in the beauty industry. Method: A survey was conducted among beauty workers, and a total of 200 questionnaires were used for the final analysis. The questionnaire consisted of social comparison orientation, job stress, turnover intention, and demographic variables, and all items were measured using a 5-point Likert scale. Data analysis was performed using the SPSS 29.0 program, including factor analysis, reliability analysis, correlation analysis, multiple regression analysis, and mediation regression analysis. In addition, this study attempted to identify the relationship between social comparison behavior and psychological stress in the workplace environment of beauty workers. Results: First, among the sub-factors of social comparison orientation, upward comparison was found to influence task-related stress. Second, regarding the effect of social comparison orientation on turnover intention, downward comparison tended to decrease turnover intention, whereas upward comparison tended to increase turnover intention. Third, job stress was found to influence turnover intention. Fourth, the mediating effect of job stress was generally not significant. The findings indicate that excessive upward comparison may negatively affect psychological stability and emotional well-being among beauty workers working in competitive organizational environments. Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that, in a competitive environment such as the beauty industry, social comparison orientation can influence workers’ job stress and turnover intention. Therefore, at the organizational level, it is necessary to establish fair evaluation systems and foster a positive organizational culture, as well as to implement management strategies to reduce job stress. Furthermore, psychological protection systems and emotional labor management strategies should be strengthened to improve psychological safety and sustainable working conditions for beauty workers. These findings suggest that organizational strategies for reducing job stress are necessary not only for turnover prevention but also for the protection of workers’ mental health and psychological safety. Future research should expand by including diverse groups and additional variables related to emotional labor protection and organizational safety.

Purpose: This study aims to analyze global recall cases involving electric vehicle (EV) power electronic modules and propose a structured reliability test framework for improving protection reliability and safety performance. EV power electronic modules, such as OBCs, LDCs, ICCUs, and traction inverters, are essential for charging, voltage conversion, propulsion control, and power distribution. Failures in these modules may cause charging malfunction, low-voltage power loss, propulsion interruption, insulation degradation, or fire hazards. Therefore, this study focuses on reliability assurance for safety-critical automotive power electronic systems. Method: A qualitative analytical approach was applied based on recall case analysis and reliability engineering principles. Publicly available recall cases related to EV power electronic systems were reviewed to identify failure symptoms, affected modules, failure mechanisms, and safety consequences. The identified failures were classified according to major stress factors, including thermal stress, electrical overstress, vibration-induced fatigue, and environmental exposure. Based on this classification, a stepwise framework integrating Highly Accelerated Life Testing (HALT), screening tests, and Design Verification (DV) testing was developed. Results: The analysis indicates that thermal stress, electrical overstress, vibration-induced fatigue, and environmental exposure are major contributors to failures in EV power electronic modules. These stress factors can accelerate degradation in semiconductor devices, solder joints, insulation structures, connectors, and thermal paths. The proposed framework supports early detection of design weaknesses through HALT, removal of latent defects through screening tests, and verification of environmental durability through DV testing. Conclusion: The proposed framework provides a practical methodology for enhancing protection reliability in EV power electronic module development. By integrating HALT, screening tests, and DV testing, the framework supports reliability assurance across design, manufacturing, and validation stages. It can contribute to reducing recall risks, improving protection performance, and strengthening reliability evaluation strategies for next-generation electric mobility systems.

Purpose: This study analyzes the structural limitations of Korea's existing livestock product certification systems and proposes a novel certification framework the Livestock Product Safety Grading System—that comprehensively integrates multi-dimensional sustainability factors, including carbon emissions, animal welfare, food safety, and waste management. Method: A review study was conducted using KCI-indexed journal articles published over the past 15 years on livestock certification, sustainability, and consumer behavior in Korea, along with government policy documents. Data were collected through face validity verification centered on thematic elements and analyzed using an inter-rater agreement method. Results: The existing certification systems, operating under a binary pass/fail structure, fail to provide consumers with integrated, comparable information on food safety, environmental impact, animal welfare, and packaging and waste management. This information gap distorts consumer decision-making and prevents producers who in-vest in sustainability from being adequately rewarded by the market. A 1-to-5 grading framework, bench-marked against the Energy Efficiency Grading System, can substantially improve information resolution com-pared to binary pass/fail certifications and better support consumer-oriented decision-making. Furthermore, the integration of QR code, blockchain, cold-chain data, and packaging information into the grading system can significantly enhance information transparency from the perspectives of food safety protection and public safety. Conclusion: The Livestock Product Safety Grading System proposed in this study should be understood not merely as a labeling tool, but as a protection-oriented certification framework that integrates consumer protection, food safety protection, environmental safety, and public safety. By resolving the structural limitations of the cur-rent pass/fail format, the system can support comparative consumer decision-making and incentivize producers to invest continuously in sustainability. Immediate legislative mandates are not recommended; instead, the system should be introduced through phased pilot implementation, followed by evaluation of market acceptance, administrative burden, and producer feasibility before moving toward formal institutionalization.

Purpose: This study aims to empirically examine the effects of SNS beauty content attributes on consumer protection empathy and human-centered new consumption behavior. To this end, SNS beauty content attributes were classified into the expertise of information providers, information reliability, information quality, and information accuracy. This study then analyzed how these factors influence consumer protection empathy and human-centered new consumption behavior. Methods: To this end, an online survey was conducted among women in their 20s who had experience watching SNS beauty content, and a total of 575 valid responses were used for the final analysis. The measurement instrument was developed to reflect the sub-factors of SNS beauty content attributes, consumer protection empathy, and human-centered new consumption behavior. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 29.0, and frequency analysis, factor analysis, reliability analysis, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis were conducted. Results: The results showed that SNS beauty content attributes consisted of four factors: expertise of information providers, information reliability, information quality, and information accuracy. Consumer protection empathy was composed of content empathy, empathy with emotional atmosphere, and empathy with situation and content creators. Human-centered new consumption behavior was found to consist of five factors: luxury consumption, green consumption, limited-edition consumption, small luxury consumption, and group-buying consumption. The analysis revealed that SNS beauty content attributes had a significant effect on consumer protection empathy. In particular, information reliability and information quality were identified as important factors in forming consumer protection empathy. In addition, SNS beauty content attributes had partially significant effects on green consumption, small luxury consumption, and group-buying consumption among the sub-factors of human-centered new consumption behavior. Conclusion: These findings indicate that SNS beauty content functions not merely as a means of information delivery but also as an important medium that influences consumers’ emotional responses and value-oriented consumption behavior. Therefore, the beauty industry needs to provide highly reliable information and high-quality content that can encourage consumer protection empathy. This study is meaningful in that it provides basic data for understanding the relationship among SNS beauty content, consumer responses, and human-centered new consumption behavior.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the major factors influencing the application of junior officers, who are the cornerstone of national security in the era of ultra-low birth rates, the necessary tasks, and directions for improving recruitment and publicity to effectively increase the application rate of junior officers in the future. In particular, since the guarantee of the military's judicial independence, the improvement of treatment for junior officers, and education on a human rights-friendly barracks culture are necessary for the improvement of military human rights, this study aims to conduct research on these matters. Method: As a primary research method, considering the characteristics of the study, the Ministry of National Defense and each branch of the military utilized empirical research data centered on literature reviews—such as relevant academic journals and dissertations—and partial case analyses, along with various policy efforts to in-crease the application rate of junior officers. Furthermore, the study of military human rights implemented an interdisciplinary approach that strikes a balance between the unique characteristics of the military as a closed organization and the guarantee of basic rights for soldiers. Results: To devise effective measures to induce applications from junior officers, it is necessary to continuously develop diverse promotional strategies based on a thorough understanding of the applicant group. From this perspective, this study examines the factors influencing the entire decision-making process regarding junior officer service for the applicant group. Furthermore, to enhance combat capabilities by reducing the responsibilities and scope of duties of junior officers, excessive administrative burdens must be drastically reduced. Conclusion: The Ministry of National Defense and each branch of the military must actively seek customized policies and measures despite limited budgets and personnel conditions. To expand applications for junior officers in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and foster a technical military, efforts must be made to further sub-divide the applicant group and understand the decision-making processes required for their development. In addition, recruitment promotional activities must be approached more actively and persuasively through salary in-creases, improvements in service conditions, and the use of various online and offline media.

Purpose: The 1930s, when Aldous Huxley published Brave New World, saw economic development unparalleled in history due to the explosive economic growth and innovation that was led by the manufacturing industry after the World War I. However, at the same time, individuals were treated like a part used in a factory, and the value of humanity that only a human can have, such as love, emotions, or thoughts, considered efficiency unnecessary and inefficient outweighed by efficiency. This paper explores the question 'Is the world of people living in a world of maximum efficiency and the loss of humanity like love, pain, and insecurity a wonderful world or a disastrous world?', a question asked by Huxley ninety years ago through Brave New World, to reflect on the value of humanity unique to humans and the direction that humans should pursue. In addition, this paper connects Huxley’s question to modern protection convergence by examining how the problems of system stability and control in Brave New World are linked to contemporary digital technology, biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and surveillance systems. Method: First, the paper explores the question 'Is love really unnecessary to humans?' in order to find out whether the civilized world, where everyone is born from an artificial insemination for efficiency, not as a result of parental love, like how objects are made in factories to stabilize society and sex is just a play without love which the sole purpose is to satisfy sexual desires, is the development and civilization that we want. Second, the paper sets out the question 'What is the value of pain and insecurity to humans?' to think about the meaning of soma used in the civilized world of Brave New World to make people ignore pain and insecurity, the reason why the states and people of power in the course of history made people look away from pain and insecurities of reality and how they did it, and why we need to face and overcome pain and insecurities. Third, the paper asks the question 'Is Brave New World a disaster or a blessing to humans?' to consider how humans are treated like objects through births and deaths when they have lost humanity, love, pain, and insecurities, for the purpose of social stability and maximization of efficiency and what sacrifices we would have to make to keep our humanity in such a world controlled by advanced digital technology and surveillance. Results: Through John, who was born and raised in the Savage Reservation, where people, who have humanity and are opposite of those in the civilized world that has lost humanity, live, the author calls the people of the civilized world, who only strive to satisfy their sexual desires without love, centaurs, poison, and whores, thereby confirming that a loveless society is not the world humanity should pursue. As John shouts to those of the civilized world to abandon soma and seek freedom, the readers realize that when a state makes its people face away from the insecure and painful reality using soma, in the end, their freedom is seized, and they become mere parts to the society. The book shows John, who tried hard not to become the same as those of the civilized world, a place that is prosperous regardless of losing humanity, is without pain and insecurities, and only strives to satisfy sexual desires, but he gives in to his desires at the end because of the others, committing suicide to protect his pride as a human being and clearly shows that living in the world that resembles the civilized world controlled by artificial intelligence and digital technology in the future would be a disaster. Conclusion: Ninety years ago, Huxley asked a question about which direction humanity should take to us in the present. Thanks to John the Savage, it is clear which road we, who are at the crossroad of choice, standing in the middle of the civilized world, the place that has lost humanity filled with people who are like mere objects with beating hearts, and the Savage Reservation, the place that has kept humanity, should take. Therefore, in the face of today’s protection convergence issues driven by biotechnology and surveillance, we must find the right direction to protect our true humanity.

Purpose: This study aimed to explore the experiences of pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period among marriage migrant women in South Korea and to provide evidence for culturally sensitive healthcare policies and nursing intervention programs. The study focused on identifying challenges, support systems, and healthcare needs during the maternal health process. Methods: A qualitative study using focus group interviews was conducted. Participants were 15 marriage mi-grant women who had experienced pregnancy, childbirth, or postpartum care in South Korea. Data were collected from March 1 to March 30, 2026, through two focus group interviews at a hospital in Seoul. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: Analysis generated 35 codes, 13 subcategories, and four overarching categories. The first category, Difficulties in pregnancy and childbirth, included communication barriers, lack of healthcare information, childcare burden, cultural differences, and childbirth as a means of maintaining life in Korea. The second category, Over-coming challenges with support from others, emphasized the importance of family, social, and healthcare support. The third category, A grateful and meaningful life, reflected emotional fulfillment and gratitude through mother-hood. The fourth category, Seeking coping strategies for pregnancy, childbirth, and child-rearing, highlighted the need for interpretation services, systematic education, and culturally tailored healthcare programs. Conclusion: Marriage migrant women experience various challenges during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period because of language barriers, insufficient information, and cultural differences. However, emotional and practical support from family members and others helped them adapt and cope with these difficulties. The findings indicate the need for professional interpretation services, multilingual educational resources, and culturally appropriate nursing interventions to improve maternal healthcare experiences and outcomes among marriage migrant women in Korea.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between men's metrosexual preference, Cosmetic Behavior, and narcissistic tendency. Focusing on the effects of metrosexual preference on appearance man-agement and Cosmetic Behavior, this study also considers the role of narcissistic tendency in this process. Through these relationships, this study aims to provide a deeper understanding of the psychological and socio-cultural aspects of men's beauty behavior and to offer basic implications for the men's beauty market. Method: This study conducted a survey targeting adult men in their 20s to 60s. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire, and only valid responses were selected for analysis. The collected data were statistically analyzed using SPSS 25.0. Multiple regression analysis was performed to examine the relationships among variables, and mediation regression analysis was additionally conducted to verify the mediating effects within the re-search model. The respondents of this study consisted of male participants in their 20s to 60s, classified into X, Y, and Z generations. The analysis of demographic characteristics showed that respondents in their 20s and 30s accounted for the largest proportion of the sample, while office workers and professionals represented a relatively high percentage. In addition, both married and unmarried respondents were evenly distributed, and most participants had a college-level education or higher. These findings suggest that the study reflects the diverse generational and social characteristics of contemporary male consumers. Results: First, metrosexual preference was found to have a positive effect across various sub-dimensions of Cosmetic Behavior. Second, among narcissistic tendencies, other-consciousness showed significant positive effects on most factors of Cosmetic Behavior, whereas self-consciousness had a more limited influence on certain factors. Third, the results of the mediation analysis indicated that narcissistic tendency showed partial mediating effects in the relationship between metrosexual preference and some dimensions of Cosmetic Behavior. Conclusion: This study confirmed that men’s metrosexual preference significantly influences Cosmetic Behavior. In particular, higher metrosexual preference was associated with stronger appearance management behaviors. Narcissistic tendency also influenced several dimensions of Cosmetic Behavior, with other-consciousness showing broader effects than self-consciousness. In addition, narcissistic tendency showed partial mediating effects in the relationship between metrosexual preference and some dimensions of Cosmetic Behavior. These findings suggest that men’s beauty behavior is shaped by both psychological characteristics and socio-cultural influences, providing meaningful implications for understanding contemporary men’s beauty culture and consumer behavior.